Ratchet clutch handle



June 9, 1953 T Y ss RATCHET CLUTCH HANDLE Filed Nov. 6, 1947 Thomas R.Yess mag Patented June 9, 1953 TED STATES- PAT E N T OFFICE RATCHETCLUTCH Thomas R. Yess, Schenectady, N.- Y.

Application November 6, 1947, Serial No. 784,473

2 Glaims.

1! The present invention relates to multipl'e purpose and combinationtools and implements and has reference in particular to structural meanscha acter'ize'd by a shank whose outer or forward end is constructed forooactionwith the work, a

hand grip for handling and imparting rotation to--the*shank and clutchmeans, of a ratcheting type,- for rotating andd'riving the shank.

Moreexplicitly; one phase of the invention has to* do with a hand gripto which the shank may be either permanently or det'achably connected,said' hand -grip being provided with ax conveniently" situates socketandsaid socket being adaptes-toaccommodate an insertable andrem'o'vableelement which is usable as a shank tages or theinvention willbecome more readily apparent from :the. following description" and theaccompanying illustrative drawing.

In the drawing; wherein like numerals are em ployed' to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Figure 11 is a view partly in section and. partly in elevatiorrshowingone embodiment of the improved tool means constructed in accordance withprinciples of the instant invention;

Figure 2 is an elevational view, partly: in section; with the leveriragmentarily shown and" positioned for shank turning and driving use;

Figure 3 is an elevational view'of the detach a'blel'ever element Figure4 is a view, in elevation, showing the.

hand gripwithiarshort shank constructed to accommodate an extensionshank or equivalent par tfor turning the latter, the figure including,in separated fashion, the shank to be turned; 25nd,.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the shank means seen-in Figure 4.-

Rleferringnow to the drawing andtoFigures' 1 to 3' -inclusive it will beseen that the shank is denoted by'thenumeral l and, in Figure 1, has oneend portion, 8,- providedwith radial fins, pins or the like 9 andsecurely anchored in an ad 2, jac'ent end: portion of a; hand-grip HT.The por-' tion 8 is provided. with an internally screw threaded socket lli which registers with a bore t2? passing through the hand-grip andprovid ing a socket for the insertableand detachable element l 3=. Thisis a rigid part and is screw threaded as at I! where it is threaded intothe socket Il The-outer end: is formed: with a knobwhich is convex as att5 and whose marginal portion: is milledorkmirled as at It to provide asuitable finger grip'l Wh'en not in use, the ele ment in question, whichwe shall call a detacha-b'l'e' lever, is mounted in" an out of-the-wayposition the hand-grip Hi; When it is broughtinto use it is: screwedinto a socket l'lprovided in: one side and adjacent one end of aturnable and slidab'le sleeve t8" carried by the shank. This sleeve" isof hexagonal cross sectional form so that it has the function of a. toolnut, that is to say awrench (not shown) may be engaged therewith forturning the same. 01', if a wrench is not. used the detachable leverl3may be brought into play and applied totake a position at rightanglesto thev sleeve: as seen; in Figure 2'. The sleeve is normally forceddown against a flanged: shoulder IS on. the shank by a coiledspring 2432which surrounds the shank between the hand-grip and: the sleeve. Thelower end of. the sleeveis scalloped or notched as at 2! to provideclutch members engageable with clutch lugs 22" providedton annadjacentcoacting surface of: the shoulder l9. That portion of the shank beyondthe lug equipped shoulder constitutes what may be described as anextension 23 and this may terminate either in a screw driver bit 2 4 asshown in: Figure 1 ormay be of reduced polygonal: or equivalentcross-section, as at 25 and provided with ballrclutch elements:26'toaccommodatean attachable and detachable socket for turning boltheads, nutsand the like (socket not shown) It isobviou-s' that using'thedevice as a screw driver: as seeri-imFig-ure I the ordinary mode ofoperation issto grasp the hand-grip, toinsert the bitfl into" the:k'e'ri of the screw (not shown) anditot turn as-is customarily done.Where the screw is stuck andcan not be turned either out or" then.additional leverage afforded by themechanical expediency herein shown isavailable. That isto say, the: clutch notches 2-1 onthe sleeve 58- maybe engagedwith the clutch lugs 22 on the shoulder I9 anda wrench (notshown) may beengaged with the sleeve, using the same as a driving nut.This will then serve to impartrotationto the shank for looseningstubborn screws. If a wrench is not handy and it is desired to use thelever, this may be done. That is to say, the small readily availablelever l3 may be detached from the hand-grip in Figure 1 and attached tothe sleeve 18 as shown in Figure 2. Then it may be ratcheted back andforth to apply a combined ratcheting and driving action to the shank. Itis understood that shank covers a linearly straight and rigid part whichmay constitute either a screw driver shank or tool shank for actuatingextra socket wrenches, etc.

In Figure 4 a modification is shown wherein a hand-grip 21 is providedwith a short stubshank 28 with retention balls 29. Here the detachablelever is shown but it is not illustrated except for the head portion l5aand knurled surface portion l6u,.

In this arrangement the main shank portion seen below in Figure 4 isdenoted by the numeral 30, is provided with a socketed head 3| with aknurled surface 132, said shank having an outstanding shoulder 33, anextension portion 34, the shoulder having clutch lugs 35 engaging in theclutch notches 36a in the adjacent coacting end of the polygonal sleeve36. The sleeve is pressed down on the shank and against the shoulder bya coiled spring 31 as already explained. The sleeve is usable as a nutto accommodate a wrench or it may be provided in one side with a socket38 to accommodate the attachable and detachable lever.

It will be seen that the invention serves to provide a tool with ahandle and lever and simple ratchet and shank so constructed that anysuitable tool shank having a tool socket may be used in connectiontherewith, provision being made in said tool to afford the user levermeans and a degree of leverage insuring ease of operation and effectiveresults. In addition the tool affords the user improved means for use asa tap wrench in that when a socket adaptor and tap is secured on thetool shank, steady and true guidance of tap is insured, revolving samein either direction. What is more, the device may be used as a practicalhand tool for grinding valves in automobile motors, the same supplyingmotion in either direction with the result that proper purchase with thelever and ratchet mechanism is available without removing the tool fromdriving contact with the valve seat.

Manifestly the structure is such that it may be interpreted primarily asa new type of screw driver; or the importance of the structure may beemphasized as a combined tool shank with lever and ratchet-like drivingmeans therefor. What is more, a further version may be a screw driver,combined tool shank with lever and ratchet drive, and hand-grip inproper relation to coacting parts. I desire these variousinterpretations to be kept in mind as the reader will appreciate.

The construction embodied in the device herein shown and describedserves to provide a satisfactory and adequate tool which may be revolvedin one direction or another without complete rotation of the hand-gripor lever, in close quarters where, lack of space, would preventconvenient use of an'ordinary screw driver or straight tool shank.Furthermore, due to the provision of the lever on the hand-grip thescrew driver of Figure 1 will enable the user to seat the screw tightlyand to remove stubborn screws with comparative ease, an accomplishmentnot usually attainable with the regularly employed screw driver. Noveltyis also predicated upon the detachable lever and its temporary placementand retention in the hand-grip. Finally the idea of having the lever inthe hand-grip, removing it and attaching it to the sleeve and againrestoring it to the hand-grip, plus the fact that the sleeve may begrasped with a wrench and turned independently of the lever makes for anovel adaptation of parts.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction withthe invention as illustrated in the drawing will enable the reader toobtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features ofmerit and novelty sufficient to clarify the construction of theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of parts maybe resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made fromthe invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

1. A hand tool of the class shown and describedcomprising a hand-gripprovided with an axial bore opening through opposite ends of thehandgrip, an elongated shank having an end portion telescoping into oneend of the bore in said handgrip, enlarged in cross-section and embeddedin said hand-grip and provided with an internally screw-threaded socketin alignment with said bore, an intermediate portion of said shank, at apoint spaced from said hand-grip, having an outstanding discal flangeprovided with fixed circumferentially spaced lugs, a sleeve slidably androtatably mounted on said shank between the flange and hand-grip, saidsleeve being polygonal in cross-section and providing external flatfaces forming tool grips, one end of said sleeve being provided withnotches and said notches being releasably engageable with said lugs, acoiled spring surrounding the shank and bearing at one end against theshoulder provided by the hand-- grip and at its opposite end against theadjacent end of said sleeve, said sleeve being provided with in one sidea screw-threaded opening right angles to said shank and constitutinganother socket, a rod member fitted telescopically and removably in thebore in said hand-grip and having a screw-threaded portion screwed intothe first named socket, the outer end of the rodmember having a head andsaid head bearin against the adjacent end of the hand-grip and closingthe corresponding end of said bore, the socket in said sleevecorresponding in diameter to the socket in said bore in order that bothof said sockets may be selectively employed to accommodate thescrew-threaded end of said rodmember.

2. A hand tool of the class described comprising a hand-grip providedwith an axial bore opening through opposite ends of the hand-grip,

an elongated shank having an end portion telescoping into one end ofsaid bore, embedded in said hand-grip, closing said end of the bore andhaving an spring-pressed clutch means mounted on said shank, and areadily attachable and detachablehandle associable with said clutchmeans to assist in turning the latter and shank, said handle embodying arod member of a length slightly greater than the length of the bore insaid handgrip, said rod member fitting telescopically and removably intosaid bore and having a screwthreaded end portion screwed into the socketat the first-named end of said bore, the outer end of said rod memberprojecting beyond the cor-.

internally screw-threaded socket,

n a responding end of said bore and having a head and said head bearingagainst the adjacent end I of said hand-grip and closing thecorresponding end of the bore.

THOMAS R. YESS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 10 862,244 Garratt Aug. 6, 1907 1,047,634 Hofimann Dec. 17,1912 1,079,912 Cutter Nov. 25, 1913 Number Number Name Date FullenwiderMay 30, 1922 Linden July 4, 1922 Eisenhard Dec. 12, 1922 Rude Dec. 4,1923 Sedgley Dec. 30, 1924 Letz Dec. 3, 1935 Blalock June 15, 1948FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Jan. 19, 1933

